The write start - Jennifer Hallissy 2010

How to Encourage Your Budding Writer
Make Yourself Write at Home

IN THE INIMITABLE WORDS OF DOROTHY, “There’s no place like home,” especially where writing is concerned.

First smiles emerge when parents gaze lovingly into their baby’s eyes. Wobbly first steps are taken while holding a parent’s steady hand. And first words grow out of the back-and-forth babbling and banter shared by parent and child. So too should writing be learned one-on-one with a supportive parent.

Without a doubt, parents make the best first writing teachers. Parents are uniquely qualified to give emerging writers the loving attention and individualized instruction they thrive on. And, although teaching your child to write might not be entirely intuitive at first, it’s easier than you may think. Especially now that you have some basic know-how, a bunch of great ideas about setup, and plenty of inspiration in the activities to follow.

Rest assured, the effort is well worth it. The rewards of raising a writer are abundant and far-reaching. As we have learned, strong writing skills pave the way for lifetime literacy, academic success, and love of learning.

There are other benefits as well. They take the form of little notes slid under doors, slipped into briefcases, and tucked under pillows. These scraps of paper document development in a way that a conversation, a phone call, an e-mail, or a text message can’t. They are the bits and pieces of your child’s life story.

The bottom line is this: every child has a story to tell, and that story begins at home.